Liz Kolb wrote a thought provoking article titled: My Space Can Be a Learning Tool. The article began with some of the dangers that using My Space in the classroom could bring. Ms. Kolb maintains that with parent education and some basic safeguards, My Space can be a great way to engage kids in learning projects of high interest using this medium. Most of her examples dealt with older teens. She sites some great uses for My Space which includes actually posting on My Space as a historical or literary character. Students would prepare for this project by reading and researching individuals that they would like to portray. Then they would actually post to their account as that person and add information and messages. Others in class would have access to these accounts and be able to interact. Another idea Ms. Kolb talked about is to have economics students create their own "business" and start a My Space page for the business and test market/research the feasibility of their idea. Another idea for younger students is to have a class My Space or personal My Space accounts in which the children could interact with classmates regarding curriculum projects or perhaps use literature or writing skills with a specific task to post.
I was intrigued by Ms. Kolbs ideas yet very concerned about safety and parental concerns. Although the article sites low statistics for children and teens with My Space accounts being approached with sexual intent (7% of the 1500 kids interviewed), I would still be very concerned about the possibility of either a predator or even another student writing inappropriate content in one of my student's sites. Obviously having parental consent and an informational meeting or session in the computer lab where parents could even help their child create their school account would be one way to safeguard the school, district and teacher. Even with this, I am probably too much of a worry wart to implement this idea. I am all for using technology but would rather use the idea of classroom newsletters, personal student blogs or websites that could be controlled or set to only have members viewing the content. In the future, if I can be assured that my students are absolutely safe in this type or activity, or if some type of software is available to do this, I would love to use My Space or another social networking sites in the classroom.
It's not coolness factor that counts, by Don Hall
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In this article, Don Hall talks about the emphasis on what is "cool," in
particular with technology. He says that there is too much focus on what's
cool, w...
14 years ago
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI was a little weary when I read about using Myspace in a classroom setting. Even though you could have a bunch of different types of safeguard, but it just takes just one way to override that. Just as you had mentioned I would prefer to use a newsltter or blogs, then to use a myspace. That 7% might seem like a small number, but that is still 105 and students that were approached with sexual intent out of 1500.
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI should have clarified that out of that 7% of children that had someone write some type of inappropriate content, none of the children were harmed. Most of the children simply ignored the remarks. I am in total agreement with you though. I would never want to take that risk.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI think that using My Space as a tool should be handled very carefully. I agree with you and Aaron about the safeguards and steps that we as teachers need to take when doing an activity like this. I hope that one day social networks can become a place where students and teachers can safely interact with no outside interruptions. I agree that newsletters and blogs are the best way to handle projects for now! Great job!